Finally- CAA agrees to 'flight mode' devices

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jhc123

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#6515 31-Jan-2006 22:46

Horaaaaayyyyyy

Not sure if I missed the original notfication of this, or if it's all new but it looks like the NZ Civil Aviation Authority will now allow use of PocketPC Phone Edition devices etc in "Flight Mode". Finally some sense from the authorities! Can't find the info on the CAA site but here's the Stuff article about it.

Here's a http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3557534a11,00.html

John

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#27560 31-Jan-2006 22:55

Yes, this is great stuff.

Providing they don't allow actuall cell phone usage - even those with microcells within an airplane. I can imagine sitting 12 hours to LAX next to someone talking on the mobile all the way...

Ah, I know someone that actually used Skype a few times when flying in one of those Wi-Fi enabled routes (Lufthansa, USA - Germany). That should be annoying too...

jhc123

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#27575 1-Feb-2006 09:08

Yep, someone yelling "sell sell sell, buy buy buy" while you're trying to sleep could be annoying on those 13hour flights. Could see a drink getting spilled on some phones by accident!

And, of course, true flight mode at the moment means no Bluetooth either so no BT wireless headphones, keyboards, mice etc but at least you can watch your own movies or play sudoku (or even do some work) to while away the hours.

Not sure if all the devices have the ability to selectivly turn off the radio stacks though- might be an issue if they start allowing wi-fi but not cellular. On the PDA2k, it disables wifi by default when going into flight mode, but you can then manually re-enable wifi if needed, leaving the phone off. I can see some people struggling to understand this concept.

JC

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#27577 1-Feb-2006 09:13

The new business class being deployed by Air New Zealand is great - there is power available, and they are not those special plane adapters, but actual wall plugs (US standard though).

These are great to keep a laptop powered or a Pocket PC on for long times - even a good full battery wouldn't last more than a couple of hours. Of course with Wi-Fi off. Another great thing to have is the Socket Mobile Power Pack (review)...

Jama

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#27579 1-Feb-2006 09:18

AirNZ have used cell phones for years on their planes - that is 025. Qualcomm have successfully tested CDMA on planes in the US and the plane didn't crash!

Reminds me of a cartoon I saw once. Guy on plane boots up laptop, Bluetooth software reports found new device - AirBus 320.

sbiddle

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#27582 1-Feb-2006 09:32

Jama: AirNZ have used cell phones for years on their planes - that is 025. Qualcomm have successfully tested CDMA on planes in the US and the plane didn't crash!

Reminds me of a cartoon I saw once. Guy on plane boots up laptop, Bluetooth software reports found new device - AirBus 320.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens with inflight phones. With the technical solutions now available it's more a matter of whether airlines believe customers want the service rather than whether the service will work. I've yet to ever see a person use an inflight phone on any international flight I've been on (I have been tempted myself though!), but being able tyo use your own cellphone could prove quite tempting. Having people sittting next to yakking on their own cellphone might just be too much to put up with on a long flight though, espcially when when they're up to their 10th call saying "you'll never guess where I am right now.."

I can just see it in a few years at check in now that the smoking/non smoking is no more that you'll have an option of a cellphone or non cellphone area! :-)

Cellphone's left switched on in planes in NZ are very common, a friend who's an Air NZ pilot said the speaker hum that GSM causes tends to travel through the plane and he will quite regularly hear it through their headsets while flying especially when the phone is at full power trying to find a cellsite.